What are the stages involved in the development of a new website or re-launch of an existing website?
When developing a website, whether new or redesigning, there are a few stages that a business must plan on going through. The first stage is the pre-development tasks, which include the some of the initial technical planning of the website. This might include, where the website will be hosted, what the domain name will be, and what the basic objectives of the website will be.
The second stage includes the analysis and design of the website. Tasks included in the analysis and design stage might include developing the business rules, business objectives, identifying the audience, and prototyping the website. This is an important part of the development process, because it lays the framework for the outcome of the website's success.
The third stage includes content development and testing. The business must decide what messages are going to be contained in the website. They would also producing any graphics, database integration, and any usability and performance testing. At this stage the website must be tested on all popular web browsers to make sure the website is consistent across them all.
The forth stage of development includes launching the website. This includes making the website live to the public.
The fifth stage of developing a website is to promote the website. This includes optimizing the website for search engines or putting a small public relations article in the local newspaper. The business, at this stage, wants to get the word out to the public that they have a website and they want people to come to the website.
The sixth and final stage is the ongoing promotion of the website. The business would use the ongoing promotions to create discounted promotions, search all the major search engines to make sure the website is optimized on the search engines, use pay-per-click marketing, etc. This is an important part of the process to make sure the online business is growing and maturing.
